Lerxst Chi Head: Review.

Gassage

What is it?

A 30w PTP wired Alex Lifeson Signature Head based loosely around Silver Jube/JCM800 topography but with 6L6GCs in preamp stage- two channel- clean and lead.

How much is it? £2k roughly, landed. (1500 cost plus import)

Fit and finish

Really beautifully made cab, soft grey tolex with a lovely lit up 2112 spaceman logo, hand signed in sliver felt tip by Alex. Innards are top quality caps and resistors, high quality solderwork and wiring. Trannies are Heyboer  and it has Three JJ 12AX7 preamp tubes and two JJ 6L6 power tubes

What does it sound like?

Firstly, I'm running it into a 2x12 with pre Rola blackbacks in it.

When I first got it and plugged in, I was unimpressed; it sounded boxy and flat like the Silver Jubes RIs. But this amp is all about the tone stack and balancing MV and channel gain- dime the bass right up to 95%, dime the mids to 75% add presence to taste and it's massive sounding- really opens up a treat.

For my tastes, it's about cranking the MV and rolling back the input stage gain to about 50%- that'll give you almost a carbon copy of the Limelight intro tones on the gain channel. Given it's Marshall based, I expected the cleans to be average, but Alex wanted 6L6s in it to enhance the cleans and it's very Hiwatty in how it delivers these- a real unexpected bonus.

Does it like pedals?

Yes and no. Lighter gains into front end work a treat to push the amp. Fuzzes are OK but truthfully there's so much gain on tap you dont really need fuzzes- you can get that from an OD into the gain stage. 

However- mods and delays into front end- forget it. Pile of poo. Sound messy and overly enhanced as you're effectively putting them before the gain stage. The loop doesn't like pedals particularly as it's line level so you'll be clipping the input of your pedal.

But- sling a good rack unit into the line level FX loops and it's magical. I am running a TC G Force, TC1210 Chorus and a Lexicon MPX1 in the loop and it's almost as good as my Cornish board into a clean amp. Reverb can make the sound massive- esp from the Lex. Not one for instrument level peds in loop- rack is best IMO. It relishes a helix type fx system with 4CM oo.

Conclusion

A really well made meat and potatoes Marshally voiced amp that's very addictive to play through. Once you've found its sweet spot the soundscape is huge but due to the 6L6s it's never unruly or messy. It's great at low levells too, a real bonus. 

In some respects, the Lifeson moniker does it no justice as it's a lot more than a Rush voiced amp and there's a danger it'll be pidgeon holed asa result-  it's pretty much the perfect gain amp for my tastes and I am very impressed.

Layla clip is amp drive , G Force reverb and delay.

Boromedic

Great review, sounds like a great amp and the build quality seems top notch.

Are these made by Mojotone?

Gassage

Boromedic said:

Great review, sounds like a great amp and the build quality seems top notch.

Are these made by Mojotone?

Yep. In house.

Boromedic

Cool, I think 65Amps were trying to rejuvenate their brand using Mojotone, they seem like a good company to work with. 

P.s. that Les Paul sounds mint through it btw!

Gassage

Boromedic said:

Cool, I think 65Amps were trying to rejuvenate their brand using Mojotone, they seem like a good company to work with. 

 My tech checked this over before I played it and said the build quality and component choice was excellent.

Boromedic

Gassage said:

Boromedic said:

Cool, I think 65Amps were trying to rejuvenate their brand using Mojotone, they seem like a good company to work with. 

 My tech checked this over before I played it and said the build quality and component choice was excellent.

That doesn't surprise me, Heyboers are what Suhr use in their amps and John is no mug. I think that's actually great value even at landed costs. 

Gassage

Boromedic said:

Gassage said:

Boromedic said:

Cool, I think 65Amps were trying to rejuvenate their brand using Mojotone, they seem like a good company to work with. 

 My tech checked this over before I played it and said the build quality and component choice was excellent.

That doesn't surprise me, Heyboers are what Suhr use in their amps and John is no mug. I think that's actually great value even at landed costs. 

According to Lerxst Amps, Alex is preferring using the Chi over the 50w Omega as he prefers the cleans on it. He used the Chi at the Taylor Hawkins show with an FM9 for mods and delays in the loop.

Stuckfast

How do you pronounce Lerxst?

richardhomer

Stuckfast said:

How do you pronounce Lerxst?

I think it’s ’Alex Lifeson’…

Gassage

Stuckfast said:

How do you pronounce Lerxst?

Lerr k stus.

it was how Geddy’s mum said Alex- as in Al-Lerxst!! 

robinbowes

Gassage said:

A 30w PTP wired Alex Lifeson Signature Head based loosely around Silver Jube/JCM800 topography but with 6L6GCs in preamp stage- two channel- clean and lead.

Typo - they're power tubes.

R.

Gassage

robinbowes said:

Gassage said:

A 30w PTP wired Alex Lifeson Signature Head based loosely around Silver Jube/JCM800 topography but with 6L6GCs in preamp stage- two channel- clean and lead.

Typo - they're power tubes.

R.

Sorry!

Modulus_Amps

Gassage said:

Stuckfast said:

How do you pronounce Lerxst?

Lerr k stus.

it was how Geddy’s mum said Alex- as in Al-Lerxst!! 

Interesting, I initially thought it was a play on lyricist